Mira’s POV

The council summoned me before noon. Word spread that Seraphine had “evidence” of my dealings with a rogue healer.

Seraphina stood beside Elder Joran, holding sealed papers as if she carried a verdict. She smiled faintly. “Before we begin, I’d like to present these,” she said. “Letters written by Mira to an exiled healer named Lathen.” The name landed like a spark on dry wood.

Elder Kira frowned. “Lathen vanished years ago. No one speaks his name without cause.” Seraphine only shrugged. “Then Mira should have no problem explaining why her seal appears here.”

The first letter was read aloud. My name was written clearly. My seal was pressed beneath it.

I said nothing until the second letter was read. That one mentioned the phrase bond restoration, a forbidden ritual known only to healers of the old blood. “I never wrote that,” I said quietly.

Joran’s voice cut sharply. “Yet your seal is here. Will you deny your own mark?” I didn’t look at him. “I will deny what isn’t mine.” Kael’s hand twitched on the table, but he stayed silent.

Seraphine’s eyes glimmered. “How strange that these letters surfaced after the poisoning,” she said. “Coincidence is generous, wouldn’t you say?” The Elders shifted, torn between curiosity and fear.

Cyrus leaned forward slightly. “Where did you get them?” he asked. Seraphine smiled. “A reliable source within Windermere’s borders.” She said it like a blade sheathed in silk.

I knew better than to argue. The more I defended myself, the more I looked guilty. Kael finally rose. “Let me see them,” he said. His voice carried no heat, only steel.

He took the letters, held them to the light, and turned them over. “This ink isn’t pack-made,” he muttered. “It’s imported. And the seal pressure is wrong. Mira’s mark doesn’t press that deep.”

Seraphine laughed softly. “You’ve studied her seal, Kael?” “I’ve studied forgery,” he said. “And lies.” The words hit harder than they should have. The room fell still.

Joran cleared his throat. “Even so, the content must be investigated. If true, Mira’s actions endanger us all.” Kira looked uneasy. “But we haven’t confirmed authenticity.”

Seraphine leaned forward. “You heard the words. Who else would speak of a ‘lost bond’ if not the woman whose child vanished?” Her tone was honeyed venom. “Mira’s grief has made her reckless.”

I met her gaze, unflinching. “You forged them,” I said. “You always pick your moments, when fear is thickest, when doubt is easiest.” She smiled again. “Prove it.”

The doors slammed open. A guard rushed in, panting. “The archives,” he shouted. “Someone’s broken in!” The room erupted. Kael moved first, signaling Rowan to follow.

The Elders exchanged confused looks. Seraphine’s smile faltered. I watched her eyes flick toward the corridor. brief, calculating. She hadn’t expected that interruption.

Kael’s Beta returned minutes later, holding fragments of parchment and a wax stamp identical to mine. “We found this near the back shelves,” he said. “Whoever was there escaped through the west passage.”

Joran rose, pale. “Then someone has been copying pack seals.” Kael’s tone darkened. “For months, by the look of it.” His eyes flicked to Seraphine, who avoided his stare.

Cyrus took the fragments from Rowan and compared them to the forged letters. “Same paper weight,” he said. “Same ink source. Imported.” The tension shifted like a tide turning.

Kira exhaled slowly. “Then these letters could be part of a larger scheme.” “Or a smaller one,” Kael said. “A personal one.” His meaning wasn’t lost on anyone.

Seraphine composed herself fast. “You can’t prove I’m connected to the break-in.” Kael smiled thinly. “Not yet.” His control made her uneasy. I saw it in the way she tightened her fingers on her sleeve.

The Elders conferred briefly. Joran proposed jail until the matter was cleared. Kira objected, reminding him of what happened to Gamma Tarek. “We act without evidence again, and we destroy what little unity remains,” she said.

Kael used the moment. “Postpone judgment,” he ordered. “Verify the ink, the seals, the handwriting. Until then, no punishment.” His tone allowed no debate. The council yielded.

Seraphine bowed slightly. “If that is the Alpha’s will.” Her words carried no respect, only a warning. She left first, perfume lingering like deceit.

When the chamber emptied, Kael turned to me. “You need to stay quiet,” he said. “No confrontations, no outbursts.” I laughed once. “I’m not the one staging them.”

His expression stayed hard. “Seraphine’s building something, control, leverage, maybe both. I can’t fight her without proof.” “Then get proof,” I said. “Before she buries me alive.”

He didn’t argue. He just nodded, weary but resolute. Cyrus joined us at the door. “Rowan’s tracking the intruder,” he said. “He thinks whoever forged those seals has access to council archives.”

Kael frowned. “That means inside help.” I said, “Then Seraphine isn’t working alone.” He didn’t deny it.

Later that night, I stayed in the lower wing, pretending to rest. I couldn’t. My thoughts circled the same truth. Seraphine wouldn’t stop until I was erased or broken.

The moonlight through the high window cut across the floor when Rowan entered quietly. He held a folded scrap of parchment. “Found this behind the archive shelf,” he said. “Same handwriting as the forged letters.”

I read the line scratched faintly across it: Deliver before the next council—use lavender to mask the scent. Rowan met my gaze. “Seraphine uses lavender oil.”

Kael entered moments later. Rowan handed him the parchment without a word. He studied it, jaw tight. “This is enough to question her publicly,” Rowan said. Kael shook his head. “Not yet. We move too soon, she’ll burn the rest of the trail.”

Cyrus joined them with a small report. “The guards saw a cloaked figure leaving through the west gate. Couldn’t catch them. But they dropped a pack insignia—Seraphine’s guard unit.”

Kael closed his eyes briefly. “So she’s using her own men to plant evidence.” He looked at me. “You were right.”

I wanted to feel vindicated, but it only deepened the ache. “What now?” I asked. He turned the parchment in his hand. “Now we make her think she’s winning.”

Cyrus frowned. “You’ll risk Mira’s name being dragged further?” Kael nodded once. “If it draws her out.” His voice was sharp, unbending. “She’s too confident. That’s her weakness.”

I didn’t argue. My faith in him was raw, but it was there. “I’ll play my part if she wants a villain. And I’ll let her believe she’s made one,” I said

Kael’s gaze softened briefly. “Not a villain,” he murmured. “A decoy.” I didn’t smile. “Call it what you want.”

Rowan left to secure the evidence, and Cyrus checked the archives many times. Kael lingered by the doorway. “You should rest,” he said quietly. I shook my head. “Not tonight.”

He didn’t push it. “Then we plan,” he said. “Tomorrow, we start turning her game against her.” I nodded once. “About time.”

When he left, the silence felt heavier. I sat by the table where the forged letters lay. Whoever wrote them knew me well enough to mimic my thoughts.

That realization unsettled me more than Seraphina’s lies. Someone close had helped her. Someone who knew what my words used to sound like before the world turned against me.

Kael returned later, holding the sealed letters again. “I’ll keep them locked under my authority,” he said. “You don’t trust the council?” I asked. He gave a dry look. “Should I?”

Hours passed. The torches burned low. I touched the table where the forged seal mark gleamed faintly. My name had become a weapon in someone else’s hand.

When Rowan returned near dawn, he brought one last information. It traced the burnt parchment near Seraphina's quarters.

“She’s cleaning her trail,” he said. Kael took the report silently.

He looked at me for a long moment. “Truth isn’t enough anymore. We’ll need a strategy, ''I said. His voice was steady, but the edge in it was darker than usual.

I met his gaze. “Then let’s stop defending and start fighting.” He didn’t smile, didn’t promise. He only nodded, slow and certain. “We already have.”